China and the US will not sign a landmark agreement on climate change policies when Barack Obama visits Beijing next month, the US president's climate change envoy said yesterday, in spite of high hopes this year among US officials.
Todd Stern said the two governments would seek “a common understanding” on climate change issues ahead of the crucial meeting in Copenhagen in December and would deepen co-operation on clean energy, but would not reach an accord on carbon emissions targets.
The low expectations for the climate change talks might please some European nations, which feared that China and the US would seek to impose a bilateral accord on other countries at Copenhagen. But the fact that no landmark deal will be agreed underlines the weak position of the US in climate change discussions until cap-and-trade legislation is passed by Congress.